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User Name Thread Name Subject Posted
ichMael readers for novel synopsis(other novel mss, now) (13) RE: readers for novel synopsis(other novel mss, now) 27 Aug 10


You might want to look for beta readers. There are threads devoted to the subject at absolutewrite.com. Total strangers, avid readers, will read and critique your work.

Congrats on your synopsis. Those are hard to write. I churn out a novel every year or two, and writing the synopsis can be the hardest part of the process. Reductive writing. I limit my synopses to one single-spaced page. I write as much in the first pass as I think is needed to tell the story, then I start reducing. Agony.

You mention you're sending out your synopsis of Prairie Child. Just curious, do you send out query letters too? I send queries asking if the recipient wants to see the synopsis and some pages. The query's like the movie trailer (where you don't give away the ending), and the synopsis is like a fast-forward of the whole movie. People in publishing are busy and want initial contacts that are brief, so I send them short little queries.

I can copy and paste the query to my last-year's novel, if you want. Amazingly, it's not been picked up.

Good luck.


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